It is well known that dentists and oral hygienists strongly recommend flossing as a supplement to brushing to remove plaque and other food particles from teeth. Many people do not floss as often as they should due to the inconvenience of carrying dental floss dispensers and the lack of dental floss dispensers in public washrooms. Restauranteurs and operators of service stations with public washroom facilities are concerned with keeping their washrooms clean. Patrons would benefit from being able to use dental floss dispensers in the washrooms, but they want to be assured that the dental floss is supplied in a hygienic manner.
Advances in the art of dental floss dispensers have been limited to the provision of dispensers for dental floss supplied on spools or in various shaped commercially available containers. Little has been done to provide dental floss dispensers suitable for mounting in public washroom facilities and other commercial environments. With conventional dental floss dispensers users are free to choose any desired length of dental floss, which usually results in unnecessary waste. Since severing dental floss from existing dispensers still involves the manual steps of passing the floss over a small hook and jerking the floss against the hook, a portion of unused dental floss can be contaminated each time the dispenser is used. It would be desirable to provide a dental floss dispenser that is convenient, safe and easy to use in commercial environments.